My "CRAZY" diet and how I survived...

I wasn't going to write anything about this because... lets face it, people judge. But really there are WAY to many other things to judge me on then what I eat.
So three weeks and a couple days ago I started the HCG diet. GASP! I knew a few people who had done it, had huge success, and kept the weight off! I was SO against it, until I learned more about it. The more I learned the more I realized what a great tool this is (I did the drops, not the shots, for those of you who know the difference). Sure I could have done a more conventional diet but there are several reasons why HCG was the way to go:

• It takes the fat from where your body stores it (for me it was those DANG love handles, aka: muffin top)
• It is one of the healthiest ways to loose weight (because it takes JUST the fat that your body DOESN'T need)
• It's effective!

Bottom line I was tired of feeling chubby and grossed out with myself. I was going in a downward spiral and the sadder I got about my weight the more weight I would gain due to emotional eating (the life of a woman). I am not saying I was over weight or had a lot to loose or whatever. This was just simply about DOING something for myself because I felt unhealthy and unhappy!
I had a few of you out there tell me, but you don't need to loose weight! Well thank your for the complement but this goes far beyond a number on a scale. This is about me feeling good when I see myself and for once taking a tool that I have access to and getting the body back that pregnancy took away. This is about the fact that I am 21 and when I look in the mirror I felt like I was middle-aged. I was SICK of being DEPRESSED about myself and always feeling like it held me back from being happy with ME! This was about ME being happy with ME and no matter how many times my husband tells me I am beautiful, I for once wanted to feel for myself it's true. So if I am lame that it meant I had to loose a few pounds... then I am lame. But at least give me credit for getting over the stretch marks and saggy boobs!

It was hard HARD work but I am so glad I did it. I am proud of myself and I learned I have a LOT more will power then I ever knew I had. I am so much happier and I FEEL so much better. I have so much more motivation to get things done and have a much healthier active routine. More then loosing weight I gained confidence and self respect that I was lacking in.
Best of all I got back in touch with my love for cooking! What? Yes, while eating 500 calories a day! I cooked dinner almost everyday for my family while on HCG. I don't know why it didn't bother me or tempt me but I do know that I loved it and it actually took my mind off of things. First of all, in a way I was able to eat vicariously through Brandon. If I was craving something I would whip it up and feed it to Brandon and somehow feel satisfied. Secondly, planing meals and preparing food took my mind off things and gave me something to be busy with so I wasn't thinking about wanting to eat.
Since being on this diet I rediscovered (because I forgot while I became MIA from my kitchen over the summer) how much I LOVE to cook and bake. I love to play around with recipes and make them my own. I am a really creative person and cooking opens a new creative outlet for me while being practical. Can't really scrapbook when your poor! And best of all my family LOVES it. It's makes my day to have Brandon come home from UPS and get excited about what creation I made him for breakfast (yes I made breakfast most days too)! It has been something my husband and I can be apart of together. Because I cant taste test things he is my helper, letting me know if it needs more this or too much of that. So I really think I owe a huge part of my success in my diet to cooking... kinda funny. And of course the other part is all due to Brandon and his never ending support! I don't know what I would do with out that man!

In the end, it was hard because some days all I wanted was a chocolate chip cookie! But the trick was for me to find things to motivate me so I could get it from my mind. I told Jamie after my diet was over I am going to have a party with all my girl friends and everyone will bring either their favorite pizza (because pizza is basically the sum of what I cant have) or dessert (the other part I cant have) and we will have one night of guilt free eating! So anytime I felt like eating that cookie I would tell myself, I will have it at my party and the temptation was gone!
Now I am done with HCG there is still 3 more weeks of maintaining and "resetting my metabolism". So basically, no bread, no sugar, and lots of protein. YEAH!
So if anyone has been wondering if I disappeared, it's only because I have been slaving away in my kitchen to avoid cheating on my diet... haha it just sounds so funny! But the best part about the whole thing... other then loosing weight, is that I found a lot of really yummy recipes! A group of us have a cooking blog and I have been posting like crazy and there is still more to come, so check it out! Cookingmommies.blogspot.com